Serena Williams (1) battled Maria Sharapova (2) for the women’s No. 1 ranking on Sunday in Madrid. After 80 minutes of play Williams prevailed, defeating Sharapova in two sets, 6-1, 6-4, and securing her position as the highest ranked women’s tennis player in the world. The win marks the 50th title for Williams and a repeat victory in Madrid.
Sharapova entered the match optimistic and well aware of her 11-match losing streak against Williams; the last time Sharapova defeated Williams was back in 2004.
“Of course it’s always tough against her,” Sharapova told Reuters after advancing to the final match against Williams. “I haven’t had a win against her in a long time. But the great thing is that I’m setting myself up in a position where I can try to change that around.”
But Sharapova’s fearlessness wasn’t good enough to beat Williams. Williams dominated the match early, winning 4 straight games of the first set and only double faulting once. Williams won the first set (6-1) in under 35 minutes.
After breezing through the first set, William lost control of the match. Sharapova went on a 3-1 game run as Williams’ performance struggled. Sharapova won 6 of 6 1st serve points and had no double faults.
Williams regained control of the match and went on to win the next three games, before winning the set 6-4. As a 15-time Grand Slam champion, Williams’ victories aren’t surprising, not even to her.
“If I’m playing well and doing everything right, it’s pretty difficult to beat me, without trying to sound too full of myself,” Williams gloated after winning a former match against Sharapova. “And I hate to lose.”
With little forced errors, high serve percentages, and three aces, Williams didn’t have to worry about losing this time.
